A spokesperson for the company said it had launched the desktop and mobile mapping service in Japan, Thailand, South Korea and Singapore, in the hope of luring Chinese travelers away from using Google Inc's mapping function.

"Those four countries are receiving more Chinese tourists every year, so it makes a lot of sense for us to expand our service there," the spokesperson said.

The firm has timed the launch to coincide with Spring Festival which begins on Feb 8, one of the country's biggest tourist seasons, to help it gauge user reaction and use.

That information will be analyzed quickly to improve the service, the spokesperson said.

Nearly 6 million Chinese are expected to travel overseas during Spring Festival, with the above four countries among their top 10 destinations, according to the country's largest online travel agency, Ctrip.com International Ltd.

The expanded Baidu service will allow tourists to plan the most appropriate routes, and more services are expected to be added such as navigation and booking local restaurants.